Left the “Mona Lisa” Louvre in Paris, the right copy.

Art experts from the Prado Museum have a “twin sister” of the famous “Mona Lisa” discovered. Retailers the potential is a copy that had been painted at the same time with the original in the workshop of Leonardo da Vinci, said the museum on Wednesday.

The picture was hung on a wall for years in the Madrid art gallery, its value was not previously identified, said Miguel Falomir, Head of the Department of Italian painting from the Prado Museum. It was not until now had been found during restoration work, that the piece was created parallel to the original.

The painter was probably Francesco Melzi, who belonged to the Da Vinci’s most important students. The “Mona Lisa of the Prado”, as the painting had been known that they had previously been assigned to the Flemish school. During the restoration has been determined that this was a mistake.

The experts discovered that the black background of the copy was first applied retroactively. Including the Prado experts discovered the representation of an Italian landscape as it was also seen on the original.

The copy was almost the same extent as the original “Mona Lisa” and was also the beginning of the 16th Century, emerged. Be with the help of infrared rays was found that the painter had done with his work on the same image corrections like Da Vinci to the original. This shows that both works were created simultaneously.

The copy was better preserved than the original. Their discovery will enable art professionals to win new details about the origin of the original. The “Mona Lisa” by Da Vinci is in the Louvre in Paris. She says in the original Italian “La Gioconda” (the unit) and was named after the Florentine Lisa del Giocondo.

The origin of the copy had been confirmed by the Louvre, reported the Spanish news agency EFE. The picture is on 21 February will be officially presented.